Category: ROF - Sophie Kinsella

Well my opinion is really divided. I have read all of the books in the Shopaholic series and have enjoyed them all. I thing the biggest winner in the series is the character Becky. She is so loveable yet clueless and she manages to get herself in all sorts of bother.

The other side of the coin for me is when I sat on a plane and decided to watch the film that had been made from the book Confessions of a Shopaholic. The film, albeit not the worst I have seen, wasn't great either for me. As usual the character I had built in my head was a major disappointment as I saw Isla Fisher trying (and failing) to play the part of Becky Bloomwood. Maybe this has been what lingered in my head the longest as I picked up the latest instalment in the Shopaholic series. Overall I have rated this book lower than I expected to but I suppose every series has its limits.

When we are re-introduced to Becky we see her back to her usual tricks of shopping for ridiculous things that she doesn't need. We also meet her daughter Minnie who was written reasonably well and had taken on all of her mother's traits, including screaming mine at regular intervals. We also see Luke her husband busy with his business Brandon Communications. As an ever patient person he tends to ignore a lot of Becky's strange stories as this is part and parcel of who she is.

I still love the character Becky and think she is incredibly funny and her one-liners that she uses to get herself out of trouble are funny. However, this particular instalment of the series only had that to fall back on, Becky herself. The storyline was the weakest I have seen in a long time, with seemingly no structure at all. The whole plot is centred on Becky planning a surprise party, which considering the title is not what I expected. Yes we do see Minnie and her tantrums along with the addition of Nanny Sue who is a childcare expert. But that is it, literally!

I found myself dragging my heels and wondering when something was going to happen. Sophie Kinsella definitely has the skills as a writer but I am beginning to wonder whether this series has now had its day. I think the film production was what ruined it for me and from looking at other opinions it seems I am not the only one that feels that way. There were some redeeming qualities and that was things we have seen in previous books such as the relationship between Becky and her parents as well as her friendship with Suze and Tarquin.

It only took me a day and a half to read this book but ended up feeling quite disappointed, and felt that I had only finished it out of obligation. I can only hope that Sophie Kinsella either creates a new series or continues with her stand alone novels.

Now upon reading the jacket of this book I was a little concerned. Sophie Kinsella's style of writing does not normally involve ghosts. To say I was a little scepticle was an understatement!

The first 5 chapters of the book I spent telling myself that I would give the book a fair chance. By chapter 6 I needn't have bothered as I flowed through the book in no time and actually found myself getting carried along with the story.

We meet Lara who to be truthful is a bit of a flake. She is pining after her ex boyfriend who clearly isn't interested and attends the funeral of her great aunt Sadie. She had never met Sadie and had no idea what was in store for her when she attended the funeral. To her surprise, her great Aunt Sadie appears in Lara's life as a ghost, and spends the whole time getting Lara to chase around looking for a lost necklace that she so desperately needs before crossing over.

Along the way we meet Lara's partner in business Natalie, who has done a bunk and left Lara to run her company. We also meet a man named Ed who Lara meets under extreme (and very funny) circumstances! Sadie ends up forcing Lara to perform a lot of strange things for her that Lara wouldn't normally dare do. At first Lara is convincing herself that all she needs to do is find this necklace, give it to her Aunt Sadie and let her cross, so she can move on with her own life. Lara is constantly fighting with her Aunt Sadie over her ex-boyfriend, who Sadie thinks is no good and whom Lara is still in love with. We also meet Lara's Uncle Bill who is famous for making and starting a very popular coffee chain. Lara finds herself becoming closer to Sadie and eventually, with the help of her Aunt, she starts to make decisions regarding her own life and makes changes to herself along the way without even realising it.

I must say that I didn't start off with high hopes but can honestly say with my hand on my heart I enjoyed this book and the characters thoroughly. Aunt Sadie is very funny and some of the things she did or made Lara do had me chuckling to myself. In turn some of the scenes between Ed and Lara made me feel like I was sitting right next to them. That in itself is a sign of a fantastic writer. Although I had my reservations they were completely unfounded. Although this tale is not the 'norm' Girl meets boy and falls in love tale that we find, I thought it was brilliantly written and would recommend.